Mangina accuses Lions of cheating

[Ebenezer]

Seriously, this is sad. Pathetic even. There's no defending him anymore. Mangini needs to go.

 

Taken from http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/23/mangini...browns-assault/

 

Mangini Says Lions Faked Injuries to Slow Down Browns' Assault

 

Posted Nov 23, 2009 7:10PM By Bruce Ciskie (RSS feed)

 

Filed Under: Browns, Lions, NFL Injuries

 

There was little Sunday that matched the drama of the Cleveland-Detroit game. Yes, two 1-8 teams gave us a gripping game filled with highlights and lowlights from both sides.

 

After Matthew Stafford found Brandon Pettigrew for the game-winning touchdown on an untimed down that followed a defensive penalty, Browns coach Eric Mangini -- never one to shy away from controversy -- decided to accuse the Lions of faking injuries during the game.

 

Mangini brought it up after the game, then repeated the accusations Monday at his weekly press conference.

 

"There were multiple, multiple, multiple injuries throughout our no-huddle process," Mangini said Sunday.

 

Asked if he thought the Lions were trying to slow down the no-huddle, Mangini said, "They all came back. I have no idea."

 

Mangini brought up the accusation against Monday. When pressed on if he was really accusing the Lions of faking injuries, Mangini said, "I'm saying there were a lot of them."

 

The Browns were quite the offensive juggernaut Sunday. Brady Quinn threw for 301 yards and four touchdowns, and they did some serious damage with a 27-point first half. It was clearly the best the Browns have looked all season, which meant it was bound to go south at some point.

 

Mangini might have a point. Studying the official play-by-play for the game, there are six instances where play was stopped for a Detroit defensive injury. Four of those times, the Browns were working without a huddle. The play-by-play listed the returns of four players as "probable," and one was "questionable."

 

Schwartz scoffed at the notion during his Monday meeting with the media.

 

"He's way out of bounds on that," Schwartz said. "That couldn't be further than the truth. There was no need to do that to slow the pace down, because the officials were doing a really good job of standing over the ball for us and them.

 

"We used a lot of no-huddle also, and I thought that the crew did a really good job of making sure that substitutes were allowed to come from either side if the offense substituted. So that game was under control that way.

 

"There was no need to do any of that stuff. That couldn't be further from the truth."

 

Reality is that it's hard to imagine a coach using such a tactic during a game. Schwartz is surely looking for an edge to help his team, but it doesn't make any sense to have guys faking injuries. The Browns were effective moving the ball in the first half, no matter if they used a huddle or not. After the Lions made some adjustments at halftime, they were able to hold Cleveland to a single touchdown in the second half.

 

The inability of the Browns to put the game away had more to do with their own limitations than any sandbagging being done by the Lions.

[Earl34]

Seriously, this is sad. Pathetic even. There's no defending him anymore. Mangini needs to go.

 

Taken from http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/23/mangini...browns-assault/

 

Where does he accuse them of cheating? Mary Kay is inferring that. It's a fair point. It's not one I PERSONALLY would take to the bank but the press is fishing here.

[linsfan]

Where does he accuse them of cheating? Mary Kay is inferring that. It's a fair point. It's not one I PERSONALLY would take to the bank but the press is fishing here.

its all over the web. he is accusing them of faking injuries. what a loser. also says that tackling a receiver in the end zone is not a penalty. at least with the lions we have something to look forward too. the browns are the worse franchise in sports. the coach has to be the biggest loser in the world. makes me wonder if the injuries that stopped the clock with the browns were faked? usually the accuser is the worst. all i know is that Cleveland sucks. period.

[Ebenezer]

Where does he accuse them of cheating? Mary Kay is inferring that. It's a fair point. It's not one I PERSONALLY would take to the bank but the press is fishing here.

 

Faking injuries is cheating. Mangina is accusing them of faking injuries. That's not inferred, that's what he actually said.

 

Faking injuries = cheating. Mangina says they faked injuries = Mangina says they cheated.

 

For -anyone- to lose to the Lions of all people and blame it on them cheating is pathetic.

[ballpeen]

How about ditching the vagina reference??

 

We do have women who read the board....are you 15 yet??

[Gips]

Why not?

Everything is always somebody elses fault with this guy...guess he and dumbo didnt have a plan for...if someone tried to slow a no huddle by faking injuries...what a Retard ,a crybaby and a loser..this is a guy fighting for his job the only way he knows how to..he cant face the fact and own up to the obvious...that every other teams staff finds a way to outsmart ,out hustle and out maneuver him and his lackeys every week..

[Pumpkin Eater]

its all over the web. he is accusing them of faking injuries. what a loser. also says that tackling a receiver in the end zone is not a penalty. at least with the lions we have something to look forward too. the browns are the worse franchise in sports. the coach has to be the biggest loser in the world. makes me wonder if the injuries that stopped the clock with the browns were faked? usually the accuser is the worst. all i know is that Cleveland sucks. period.

 

The Browns have never gone 0-16 lol. The Lions will always have that dubious distinction. Don't come on here calling other franchises the "worse" (worst) franchise in pro sports. The Browns also have had a winning season recently.

 

"The Lions went the entire 2001 , 2002 , and 2003 seasons without a road victory, thus becoming the only team in NFL history not to win on the road for three consecutive seasons"

 

"The beginning of the 2008 season was a continuation of the 2007 losing slump, as the Lions were defeated in their first three games. On September 24, Millen was fired. During the 2008 season, the Lions were winless (0-16), becoming the first team in NFL history to lose 16 games in a single season, and thereby winning the right to the first overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft."

 

"Over seven seasons under Millen's leadership as team president, the Detroit Lions owned the NFL's worst winning percentage (31–81, .277), never had a winning season, never finished higher than third place in the NFC North."

 

 

[Earl34]

Faking injuries is cheating. Mangina is accusing them of faking injuries. That's not inferred, that's what he actually said.

 

Faking injuries = cheating. Mangina says they faked injuries = Mangina says they cheated.

 

For -anyone- to lose to the Lions of all people and blame it on them cheating is pathetic.

 

No he didn't. He said there were "a lot of them" and that they "all came back".

[Ebenezer]

No he didn't. He said there were "a lot of them" and that they "all came back".

 

Here's a very similar article from ESPN syaing the same thing. Except this one has quotes from Chansi Stuckey saying that faking injuries is what the Lions do. From http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?i...ce=NFLHeadlines

 

BEREA, Ohio -- Browns coach Eric Mangini is questioning whether the Detroit Lions faked injuries to slow down Cleveland's no-huddle offense.

 

Mangini, who bemoaned the final, chaotic seconds of Cleveland's 38-37 loss Sunday, noted the Lions had several players leave the field injured, only to return. Mangini was asked if he was accusing the Lions and coach Jim Schwartz, whom he worked with previously in Cleveland, of faking injuries.

 

"I'm just saying there were a lot of them," Mangini said Monday.

 

Schwartz disputed Mangini's claims.

 

"He's way out of bounds on that," countered Detroit's first-year coach. "That couldn't be further from the truth. Both teams were running no huddle, and the officials did a very good job of standing over the ball, so there was no need to do that."

 

Browns wide receiver Chansi Stuckey supported Mangini's theory that the Lions were faking.

 

"Definitely," he said. "I knew that. That's what their coach does. If someone tries to do that to us, I would expect our guys to do the same thing. Unless it gets into that under two-minute situation where that causes a timeout, any other time it's fine and I would do the same thing."

 

Mangini first raised the possibility that the Lions were pretending to be hurt during his postgame news conference.

 

"There were multiple, multiple, multiple injuries throughout our no-huddle process," Mangini said Sunday.

 

Mangini said he has not spoken to Schwartz about whether some Lions were acting hurt. He was asked if the NFL's competition committee should look into stopping the practice.

 

"It's subjective," he said. "How do you know what is and isn't an injury?"

 

According to the official play-by-play, there were six different instances when the Lions had players leave the game with injuries -- all of them returned.

 

Mangini also feels the officials made an incorrect pass interference call at the end of the game, which gave the Lions an untimed down on the Cleveland 1-yard line. On the extra snap, Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford threw his fifth touchdown pass.

 

Browns (1-9) defensive back Hank Poteat was called for interference on the jump-ball play, which began with Stafford scrambling far to the left and cutting back right. Cleveland's coaches and players felt that because Stafford was out of the pocket that contact downfield was permitted.

 

"I can't control that call," Mangini said. "I haven't been a part of any calls like that, I haven't seen it called, where it affected the outcome of a game like it did, but I have absolutely no control over what they call. It's really not illegal contact when the guy's out of the pocket or scrambling. But they called it."

 

Mangini was asked if Poteat was flagged because the ball was in the air.

 

"Yeah, I guess that's what they called it for," he said. "I haven't seen it, haven't been a part of it. It's their call. We'll live with it."

 

In addition, Mangini thought the Lions should have been called for excessive celebration on Stafford's TD toss and that Detroit (2-8) should have been assessed a 15-yard penalty before kicking the game-winning extra point. After the score, Lions tight ends coach Tim Lappano ran across the field to hug players.

 

"There was a lot of celebrating going on after the play, coaches out on the field ... excessive celebration," Mangini said. "I thought that was a penalty, too, but that didn't get called. That's a 15-yard penalty, there's a big difference in the extra point."

 

Accusations of cheating and blaming the refs for the loss on calls that were correctly made. So sad.

[professor_g]

I'm on Mangini's side here. We got robbed.

[VaporTrail]

Who gives a xxxx. I have no idea why he's trying to save face. We just lost to the Lions. It shouldn't have been close either way. The results are locked in, so he needs to man the eff up and move on.

[JoeSixPat]

How about ditching the vagina reference??

 

We do have women who read the board....are you 15 yet??

 

Hear hear! Not even I condone going that route... MangIdiot is my suggested insult name (coined it myself years ago!)

 

But on the topic at hand, it's not uncommon for players to, shall we say, lay on the field, in end of game situations, lacking time outs, to, shall we say, ensure they are healthy enough to play. And if it just so happens it gives the team a needed rest without blowing a time out (especially if they lack a time out) so be it.

 

All coaches know this. Very few are stupid enough to acknowledge it or make an accusation via the press.

 

And in this situtation, it looks very unlikely that Mangini's accusation is correct... especially if Stafford doesn't play on Thursday.

 

I'm sure when Mangini (or MangIdiot) saw Stafford reported as unlikely for Thursday follwing his comments he must have cursed something awful.

 

(Didn't he and Schwartz used to be friends too? Add him to a long list of former Mangini friends I guess)

 

Bottom line, Mangini is correct that "cheating" of that nature isn't rare... but he was stupid to make the comment to the press.

 

He should know enough by now to keep his mouth shut about such things.

 

The Patriots "cheating" is no less uncommon, dating back to the 1950s... the thing was, most fans didn't know about it and the NFL preferred to keep it that way... until Mangini opened his mouth.

[Mr. T]

If they cheated they only cheated themselves.... With the First Overall pick the Browns select.....!!!!

 

 

Thats what Im talking about.

[Mr. T]

And how have all those early worked for you so far?

 

 

Well it finally looks that the Browns stopped letting the fans choose who they needed to draft and this past draft is looking like a good one.

[TheClevelandSound]

even better article.

 

http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d8...mp;confirm=true

 

BEREA, Ohio -- There were pump fakes and faked handoffs in Sunday's game between the Cleveland Browns and the Detroit Lions.

 

Eric Mangini believes there might have been some other deception.

 

On Monday, Cleveland's embattled coach questioned whether Detroit's defensive players faked injuries to slow down the Browns' no-huddle offense, which racked up a season-high 439 yards during a 38-37 loss.

 

Mangini didn't flatly accuse the Lions of cheating, but he noted the high number of Lions players who were helped from the field -- only to return.

 

"I'm just saying there were a lot of them (injuries)," he said.

 

Mangini's suggestion of foul play was rebuffed by Lions coach Jim Schwartz.

 

"He's way out of bounds on that," Schwartz said. "That couldn't be further from the truth. Both teams were running no huddle, and the officials did a very good job of standing over the ball, so there was no need to do that."

 

It isn't the first time that Mangini, who worked with Schwartz when the two began their coaching careers under Bill Belichick in Cleveland, has pointed a critical finger at a friend. When he coached in New York, Mangini accused Belichick and the New England Patriots of videotaping the Jets' defensive signals during the 2007 season opener.

 

The episode, now known infamously as "Spygate," damaged Mangini's relationship with his mentor.

 

Mangini first raised the possibility that the Lions were pretending to be hurt Sunday during his postgame news conference.

 

"There were multiple, multiple, multiple injuries throughout our no-huddle process," Mangini said Sunday.

 

Browns wide receiver Chansi Stuckey supported Mangini's theory that the Lions were faking. According to the official play-by-play, there were six instances -- with five different players -- where a Detroit player went down with an injury when Cleveland ran its no-huddle offense and then returned.

 

"Definitely," Stuckey said. "I knew that. That's what their coach does. If someone tries to do that (no-huddle) to us, I would expect our guys to do the same thing. Unless it gets into that under two-minute situation where that causes a timeout, any other time it's fine, and I would do the same thing.

 

Stuckey said the injury ruse can be effective in slowing down a hurry-up attack.

 

"Once you're going, those defensive linemen can't run in and off the field," he said. "They're getting tired, they do four, five pass rushes in a row, they're getting tired, so someone has to do something like that to try to slow us down and stop the rhythm and try to get some fresh guys on the field."

 

Mangini said he hasn't spoken to Schwartz about the matter. Mangini was asked if the NFL's competition committee should look into stopping the practice of players pretending to be hurt, a ploy that has been used in the past.

 

"It's subjective," he said. "How do you know what is and isn't an injury?"

 

Mangini was asked if it would be upsetting if a friend such as Schwartz would bend the rules to give his team an advantage.

 

"It's, um," Mangini said, pausing to carefully choose his words. "There's no penalty, and, um, maybe all those guys were legitimately injured. I haven't talked to him about it. Everybody makes that decision."

 

The possibility that the Lions duped the officials wasn't the only thing that bugged Mangini, whose team blew a 24-3 lead to fall to 1-9.

 

Mangini also believed the officiating crew made an incorrect pass-interference call in the end zone at the end of the game -- a penalty that gave the Lions one more play from the Browns' 1-yard line. With no time on the clock, Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, who had injured his left shoulder on the previous play, threw his fifth touchdown pass, and Detroit kicked the extra point for its second win in the last 26 games.

 

Browns defensive back Hank Poteat was called for pass interference on Stafford's jump-ball throw, which began with the rookie quarterback scrambling far to the left and cutting back right. Cleveland's coaches and players believed that because Stafford was out of the pocket, contact downfield was permitted.

 

"I can't control that call," Mangini said. "I haven't been a part of any calls like that, I haven't seen it called, where it affected the outcome of a game like it did. It's really not illegal contact when the guy's out of the pocket or scrambling. But they called it."

 

Mangini was asked if Poteat, who had his back to Stafford, might have been flagged because the contact occurred while the ball was in the air.

 

"Yeah, I guess that's what they called it for," the coach said. "I haven't seen it, haven't been a part of it. It's their call. We'll live with it."

 

In addition, Mangini believed the Lions (2-8) should have been called for excessive celebration on Stafford's TD toss and that they should have been assessed a 15-yard penalty before Jason Hanson kicked the game-winning extra point. After the score, Lions tight ends coach Tim Lappano ran across the field to hug players.

 

"There was a lot of celebrating going on after the play, coaches out on the field ... excessive celebration," Mangini said. "I thought that was a penalty, too, but that didn't (get) called. That's a 15-yard penalty, there's a big difference in the extra point."

 

On that point, Schwartz agreed with Mangini.

 

"He's probably right about that," Schwartz said. "But I don't think Jason was coming to come up short on a 35-yard extra point."

[JoeSixPat]

Seriously, this is sad. Pathetic even. There's no defending him anymore. Mangini needs to go.

 

 

It really is quite amazing when you consider the track record... Schwartz and Mangini were apparently buddies and colleagues, going back to their first stint with the Browns under Belichick. Of course this is when Mangini and Kokinis became buddies.

 

Fast forward to 2009.

 

Mangini, having already thrown Belichick, head coach when he was with the Browns, under the bus with Spygate, something Jimmy Johnson admits was routine (as also confirmed as a practice going back to the 1950s (http://www.thesportgallery.com/sport-stories/1967aug-nflspy.html))

 

Now Mangini throws another Browns colleague Jim Schwartz under the bus for fostering another age old practice of players taking every opportunity to catch a breather in a fast paced game...

 

And speaking of old Browns colleagues, whatever happened to good old "roomie" from his days with the Browns, George Kokinis? Last I heard he had gotten a pretty high level job thanks to his old friend and now head coach Eric Mangini.

 

How'd that work out?

 

Man, I would NOT want to be on Eric Mangini's Linked In network.

[professor_g]

It really is quite amazing when you consider the track record... Schwartz and Mangini were apparently buddies and colleagues, going back to their first stint with the Browns under Belichick. Of course this is when Mangini and Kokinis became buddies.

 

Fast forward to 2009.

 

Mangini, having already thrown Belichick, head coach when he was with the Browns, under the bus with Spygate, something Jimmy Johnson admits was routine (as also confirmed as a practice going back to the 1950s (http://www.thesportgallery.com/sport-stories/1967aug-nflspy.html))

 

Now Mangini throws another Browns colleague Jim Schwartz under the bus for fostering another age old practice of players taking every opportunity to catch a breather in a fast paced game...

 

And speaking of old Browns colleagues, whatever happened to good old "roomie" from his days with the Browns, George Kokinis? Last I heard he had gotten a pretty high level job thanks to his old friend and now head coach Eric Mangini.

 

How'd that work out?

 

Man, I would NOT want to be on Eric Mangini's Linked In network.

 

Exactly the comment I would expect from a Pats fan. Don't try to tell me that Spygate was acceptable behavior because others have done the same. Those others were f-ing cheaters as well.

 

[JoeSixPat]

Exactly the comment I would expect from a Pats fan. Don't try to tell me that Spygate was acceptable behavior because others have done the same. Those others were f-ing cheaters as well.

 

Then you absolutely don't want to know that the NFL named the AFC Championship Trophy in honor of one of the original and best "cheaters" in the league... the godfather of spying if you willl...

 

Just warning you... do NOT read this article if you prefer to operate under your current delusion.

 

http://www.thesportgallery.com/sport-stori...aug-nflspy.html

 

Why don't you just go back to advocating that the Pass Interference rule should have been suspended for the 2nd to last play of the game like everyone else around here!!! THAT wouldn't be cheating of course.

[Speedyd900rr]

Why don't you just go back to advocating that the Pass Interference rule should have been suspended for the 2nd to last play of the game like everyone else around here!!! THAT wouldn't be cheating of course.

 

Why dont you go back to blowing tricks under a bridge to support your drug addiction. Least it will give you something to do in your lonely life so you get off the BROWNS BOARD you closet fan.

[Speedyd900rr]

And how have all those early worked for you so far?

 

 

Come on, we all know you like the Browns. It's just your ego cant handle losing so you pretend to be a fan of whatever team is winning this week right? I mean after all, you do hang out on a BROWNS BOARD reading and talking to BROWNS FANS as opposed to talking to fans of whatever team you claim. It's pretty pathetic actually. Keep going though. Im still laughing at your FAILED attempt.

[Tim Couch Pulls Out]

its all over the web. he is accusing them of faking injuries. what a loser. also says that tackling a receiver in the end zone is not a penalty. at least with the lions we have something to look forward too. the browns are the worse franchise in sports. the coach has to be the biggest loser in the world. makes me wonder if the injuries that stopped the clock with the browns were faked? usually the accuser is the worst. all i know is that Cleveland sucks. period.

 

 

When a QB leaves the pocket, a play is considered "busted", and a defensive player is allowed to force a receiver out of bounds. This way, the receiver cannot be the first to touch the ball upon re-entering the field of play. What is illegal, however, is continuing to push a receiver out of bounds when he is trying to make a play on the ball. Although, to tell you the truth, the receiver in question wasn't really attempting to make a play on the ball so much as he was just throwing his hands in the air and complaining.Either way, screw you Hank Poteat.

[The Italian DawgPound]

All Mangini said might even be correct, but the question remains the same: when you're 1-9 and you lose to another 1-9 team with such a stupid mistake at the end of the game (not to mention you call time out in a questionable moment), how on earth can you even think of saying to the media "we were robbed"?

Come on! A bit of dignity would not do you any harm, Coach.

 

 

[kshutchins]

How about ditching the vagina reference??

 

We do have women who read the board....are you 15 yet??

 

Thank you. As a female, I put up with a lot on this board without complaint but I will (and have), without hesitation, delete crude references to female body parts.

[ClevelandFanForLife]

how about instead of saying the other team cheated, you own up to your team blowing a 24-3 lead against a 1-8 team. how about you explain why after your offense scores three times on deep passes you switch to running the ball for the most of the remaining game. how about you address why you went into the prevent defense not only during the last drive of the game, but the second quarter. how about you didn't challenge a botched spot on 4th and inches. how about you explain why you called a time out before the last play of the game, allowing the other team's qb to come back on the field. let's start there first eric.

[ClevelandFanForLife]

Thank you. As a female, I put up with a lot on this board without complaint but I will (and have), without hesitation, delete crude references to female body parts.

i have to admit that when i first heard of the name mangina i really liked it and thought it was funny. i guess i never really thought of how offensive it was to women. instead let's go with can't-gini because he can't do anything right.

[Westside Steve]

How about ditching the vagina reference??

 

We do have women who read the board....are you 15 yet??

 

Shep and mz the pussy are gone.

WSS

[DieHardBrownsFan]

Seriously, this is sad. Pathetic even. There's no defending him anymore. Mangini needs to go.

 

Taken from http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/23/mangini...browns-assault/

 

Grow up kid.

[lodilobo]

Seriously, this is sad. Pathetic even. There's no defending him anymore. Mangini needs to go.

 

Taken from http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/23/mangini...browns-assault/

The local media and most of you so called fans are really what's pathetic. This guy has been here for 10 games, trying to make something out of a bunch of crap, and everybody hates him. No matter what he does, it's blown out of proportion to suit the media's agenda, which is to run another coach out of town. Where does all this end? What's the plan here? To go through any number of coaches until we find one who is acceptable to the media? That will never happen. They need to sell newspapers, and it's very boring if you are not a Superbowl team, unless you can create some drama. I don't like everything Mangini has done, but you people who want him gone are ridiculous. What you have to consider is this...like it or not, Mangini has forgotten more about football than most of us will ever know. He's a NFL head coach, and he is not involved in some master conspiracy to keep the Cleveland Browns losing forever. Whatever happened to supporting your team's coach, when the media starts crap? Why do all you people just pile on? When you find a guy to replace Mangini, who guarantees that he can turn this team into a Superbowl contender immediately after a 4 -12 season, let me know. I'm all for it, but until you find that guy, I'm willing to give Mangini a chance.

[peterbell]

Of course they were faking injuries..you have to be an idiot not to have seen that...Detriot got away with it

so good for them. How many jump balls in the end zone have you seen where guys are absolutely mauling

each other..everytime right... and do they ever call a penalty...NO-NO-NO..The ball was short of the guy who was 'interfered' with and it was picked off.

 

Mary Kay said on her TV show "The Browns Red Zone" (which by the way is unwatchable.Can the heavy set guy with

Mary Kay get a sports jacket that fits?.).jeez.. MKC said "its not fair how the national media piles on Mangini" when she is

ALWAYS starting the drama with her'opinion..She's a big phoney if you ask me and is looking for a national spotlight when she

is the most unknowledgeable "REPORTER" about actual football I've ever read..anywhere

 

The Browns put up 37 points and Quinn had a good day

The secondary let us down for sure, but damn man I was on the edge of my seat and screaming and cheering for 60

entertaining minutes of exciting football.. I know a loss is a loss but I see some good things happening.GO BROWNS

[ClevelandFanForLife]

what you have to understand is mangini is used to the exact opposite. he usually cheats the other way. he has his players play even when they are hurt and doesn't report it to the league. it's a hobby of his.